Recipe: Beetroot Ketchup with chilli

What do I need to make my beetroot ketchup?

Ingredients

Beetroot The great thing about this recipe is that it is up to you whether to use fresh or pre-cooked beetroot. If you’re using fresh, there’s instructions on how to cook them with as little fuss and mess as possible in the recipe.

But if you’re in a hurry this ketchup is also lovely made with pre-cooked beetroot. Just make sure it is plain and not in vinegar or with other flavourings.

Onion, carrot and celery A classic base for so many sauces and stews, this is known as ‘soffrito’ in Italy. It gives the ketchup a lovely aromatic base. Some supermarkets now sell a frozen finely-chopped soffrito mix, if you’re really in a hurry!

Garlic I really recommend using fresh garlic cloves here if you can, they add such a lovely flavour to the finished ketchup. But if course if you don’t have any to hand you could use ready-chopped garlic from a jar or tube instead.

Ground cumin I love the combination of cumin and beetroot, and it adds a lovely note to this ketchup. By all means experiment with other spices too to make this recipe your own.

Red chilli I use one fairly big red chilli with the seeds left in (but the membrane removed), and that results in a fairly good chilli kick in the finished ketchup – my kids won’t eat it, which is a good barometer!! If you want a milder ketchup, remove the seeds (or leave the chilli out completely if you prefer).

Red wine vinegar This is a lovely flavour of vinegar to go with the beetroot, but you can use white wine or cider vinegar if you prefer. I think malt vinegar would be a little too astringent here, and balsamic would make the ketchup very dark.

Light brown sugar I like using soft brown sugar with its slightly treacly flavour, but caster sugar will work just as well if you don’t have any to hand, or a combination of half-and-half caster and dark brown muscavado would be lovely too.

Equipment

There are a few bits of equipment that will really help you out with ketchup-making:

Blender

You will need some sort of blender, food processor or mini-chopper for this ketchup. I have a small and a large one, and use whichever is easiest for the quantity I am making.

For small quantities I use my Breville Active Compact Food Processor* which at £30 is a bargain and really handy for all sorts of small chopping and blending jobs in the kitchen.

Or for bigger quantities, I will get out my Magimix Pro Food Processor* which has three different sized bowls for any size job. (This one was a gift for review from Magimix some years ago, but I’m a big fan and haven’t ever been paid to say so!)

Bottles

I’m a self-confessed hoarder of used bottles and jars, not much makes it into the recycling bin, just in case I need it for my next preserving project.

But, if you’re giving this ketchup away as a gift it is nice to have some really pretty flip-top bottles – I love these Kilner 250ml bottles which I bought for a vodka project last year but are now being re-used!

Funnel

If you’re trying to get ketchup into a bottle, you will absolutely need some sort of funnel, trust me. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, this one is just over £2 and has served me well for many years!

Storing your Beetroot Ketchup

This lovely ketchup will keep for 3 months (ideally stored in a cool, dark cupboard), Once you’ve opened it, it is best stored in the fridge.

Do make sure you sterilise your bottles before bottling the ketchup. Read the instructions below if you’re not sure how to do that.

How do I sterilise my bottles or jars for making ketchup?

I tend to use one of three easy methods to sterilise bottles or jars for ketchup:

• In the dishwasher Put your bottles on the top shelf of your dishwasher and run a cycle on the hottest setting.
• In the oven Wash the bottles in hot, soapy water then rinse well. Don’t dry with a tea towel. Preheat the oven to 140°C / 210°F / Gas Mark 1 and place the bottles on a baking tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
• In the microwave (not suitable for flip-top bottles or those with metal parts) Wash the bottles in hot, soapy water then rinse well. Don’t dry with a tea towel. Remove the lids and any metal parts (these must not go in the microwave), and place each bottle in the microwave for 60 seconds on full power. Sterilise the lids separately by soaking them in a jug of boiling water.

If your bottles have a rubber seal, sterilise these by soaking in a jug of boiling water as above.